Knocking off some rust...

[TylerK]

Stars $5.50 STT. I play stupid preflop and try to figure out the flop...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP1 (t1465)
MP2 (t1245)
CO (t1555)
Hero (t1325)
SB (t3745)
BB (t1945)
UTG (t755)
UTG+1 (t1465)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, Q.
UTG calls t50, 2 folds, MP2 raises to t200, 1 fold, Hero raises to t500, 2 folds, UTG folds, MP2 calls t300.

Flop: (t1125) K, 9, J (2 players)
MP2 checks, ...

[CowbellGuy]

I fold PF... but as played, I would cbet. This is pretty good flop for you I think. Lots of draws. If he is checking to you, I'd put him on either an underpair, two big cards (AQ also for example... that would be the only thing that made sense to me), or, worst case scenario, he is slow playing a set.

For him to check top pair, or even mp on that flop doesn't make sense because I don't know what he would be calling a raise like that with PF

EDIT: Oops, I didnt look at stack sizes... I think you're only two reasonable plays are to push, or to check. That being said, i think either is OK. This early in the tournament I guess the safe play would be to check and then push on the turn if he checks again.

[Muzzard]

I fold PF...

WTF, you folding AQs to a MP standard raise?! I probably call, sometimes reraise depending how early/if I have a read.

Now, I'm getting it all in here on the flop. We got some decent FE. Plus we got outs to a gutshot and nut flush, ALLLL IN! Plus the ace might be live too.

[bode]

I fold PF....

weak/tight post of the year?

i actually dont hate the reraise size preflop given stack sizes. Any thinking villain will know that you basically committed your stack, and you leave a nice bet of 800 into an 1100 pot on the flop. As played you have to push the rest in here with a monster draw.

[Zee Devee]

Def call pre.

On the flop you have some good draws, so I would just check. There is no reason to try and bet to steal the pot then getting pushed over and have to fold your draws.

[CowbellGuy]

Call it weak/tight, but if the BB is 50, it is very early in the tournament and he has well over 20 BB left. The best he can hope for is a coin flip and he has almost no fold equity. I know I am a winning player and don't need to flip (or worse) for my tournament life this early, and the raise in front of me lets me know I am almost never ahead.

[Muzzard]

Def call pre.

On the flop you have some good draws, so I would just check. There is no reason to try and bet to steal the pot then getting pushed over and have to fold your draws.

We wouldn't be betting and folding to a shove.... Look at the stack sizes, this is a clear all-in 800 into a 1100 pot. Even if we bet like 400 and got shoved over we'd be calling coz of the pot odds.

[bjsaust]

Hmm, we're 45% to win here. Maybe even better if he doesnt have the K so either our A or Q might give extra outs.

I think we push in on that flop. Some FE and a decent chance of winning if called.

I think I'd prefer a flat call PF, our 3-bet left us in a precarious position.

[CowbellGuy]

Hmm, we're 45% to win here. Maybe even better if he doesnt have the K so either our A or Q might give extra outs.

I think we push in on that flop. Some FE and a decent chance of winning if called.

I think I'd prefer a flat call PF, our 3-bet left us in a precarious position.

Ok. I agree calling the raise preflop is OK (It is a 4x raise, but we have position), even though I personally would fold I think both plays are OK.

Folding PF is still a much stronger play than pushing PF or probably raising as well. Pushing preflop is a massively losing play. We are giving up a lot of equity, I haven't run this through SNGwiz, but I'm guessing you can only push with QQ or JJ+ here due to the edge. With this many 20+ BB and 8 players left in the tournament there is no need to get desperate, this isn't a cash game, AQs is not that great of a hand to be rerasing preflop with here.

[bjsaust]

With 325 in the pot, and a stack of 1325, a push PF isnt a bad play here.

[CowbellGuy]

This was bugging me so I ran the calculations.

Assuming he is open 4x raising with the top 13% of hands (KJs+, A5s+, etc), you can only push here with JJ+. Assuming he is opening with AJ+ or 88+, which to me seems much more likely, you can only push with QQ+.

The only way we can push here is if we assume he is opening with 26.7% of hands, i.e. K9+, K7s+, QJs+, A2+, 22+, etc... which villain will never do.

Pushing preflop is a losing play.

[Jack Sawyer]

As played, push flop.
Your draw is two-way to the nuts. No sense in slowplaying here.

[badgers]

Hmm, we're 45% to win here. Maybe even better if he doesnt have the K so either our A or Q might give extra outs.

I think we push in on that flop. Some FE and a decent chance of winning if called.

I think I'd prefer a flat call PF, our 3-bet left us in a precarious position.

Agreed 100% with all of this. No way we can fold AQs preflop, and no way we can shove pf here.

[Random_Hero]

easy call PF as we are on the button. folding PF is playing way to tight. what do you call a raise with from the BTN in this skenario?

as played shove the flop. Agree with bjsaust.

[CowbellGuy]

I think we all can agree that shoving the flop is fine.

But I definitely don't agree with BJ or others in this post: pushing preflop is an absolutely gross play, as I've done my best to point out, and re raising is almost as bad.

I am not saying I would never call here, but AQs would be the low on my range of hands with the blinds left to act, and I would certainly call in many situations, especially at such a low buy in where play tends to be loose. So, assuming I had no reads on villain or any other reason to put him on any range except for the ones I have described above, a 4x open raise in front of me, lets me know I am probably behind his range. That being said, all I am contending is that he has only two possible plays, a call, or a fold, depending on the range he is assigning to the 4x open raise.

[Random_Hero]

Hmm, we're 45% to win here. Maybe even better if he doesnt have the K so either our A or Q might give extra outs.

I think we push in on that flop. Some FE and a decent chance of winning if called.

I think I'd prefer a flat call PF, our 3-bet left us in a precarious position.

I agreed with bjsaust when he said the above. I dont like a shove PF at this stage either. As he said a flat call would be preferable.

[TylerK]

I actually thought there would be more argument about whether pushing the flop was better than checking behind, but I'm glad everyone seems to mostly agree with the push.

I didn't really mention what I'd prefer to have done preflop. (I wasn't really paying attention at the time, it was an "oops" moment.) I think a flat call and playing a flop might have been the least worst thing to do. Folding PF sucks here, but I just don't see how committing over 1/3 of my stack with AQs against a MP open-raiser was a good idea either. Probably could have used a read on this hand.

[taipan168]

Sorry to wade into this late, but if opp is tight, then folding AQs is absolutely fine here. Against a tight $27 and definitely $60 regular raising from UTG or raising over an UTG limper from MP2 I would absolutely dump AQs, even on the button.

At a $5.50 it is very unlikely that MP2 is tight enough to mean that you're behind his range. I think a flat call is fine here.